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Are YOU Ready to Be a Foster

Are YOU Ready to be a Foster?

Have you been thinking about becoming a foster? Take this 5 point readiness test and see if you’re ready!

1. Is your entire household committed to fostering? This means that everyone in the house needs to understand and accepting of the fostering requirements. Everyone must understand the socialization needs of the dog, including some of the behavior challenges that might arise as the dog adjusts to your home. If everyone in your household is not on board with fostering, this can bring strain on the family…which often leads to the foster family needing to dump the dog before the end of the fostering period. This is not good for the dog or for your family.

2. Are you family pets well socialized, friendly and up to date on vaccinations? Your family pets are an important part of the family and if they are not ready to bring a foster dog into the family, then fostering will not be a good fit. Making sure your family pets are healthy and up to date on vaccinations is also essential in that shelter animals have been exposed to many germs at the shelter. Foster dogs might exhibit a “doggie cold” from being at the shelter and it’s important for your dog to have all of its vaccinations, especially bordatella.

3. Can you afford to provide food, treats, toys and bedding for the foster dog? PAWS for Irving Animals will cover vetting expenses (as long as you use the veterinarians we designate), but we rely upon our fosters to provide food, treats, toys and bedding for the foster dogs.

4. Can you commit to providing basic training and socialization for the dog? Basic training skills include potty-training, sit, stay, down, drop it and leave it. These skills are incredibly helpful in finding a great home for the foster pet. Teaching them to the dog early will also make for a better fostering experience. Additionally, fosters need to have the time to socialize the dog inside the home. This means several hours a day of interaction. Keeping the dog inside a crate for 23 ½ hours a day is no better than the shelter experience and will not help prepare the dog for a home environment.

5. Can you commit to utilizing the veterinarian we designate and attending the appointments we set? Often times, fosters are allowed to set their own appointments within some date parameters. The vetting appointments are incredibly important. Here’s why:

Vetting paperwork for a dog is equivalent to a passport for a human. Without the paperwork, they cannot transport.

With short-term fostering, we have very tight deadlines to meet the vetting requirements. Spays/neuters must be completed no less than 7 days prior to the transport. (This is for the safety/health of the animal. The wound needs to be healed so that the dog doesn’t get anxious on the trip and start tearing out the stitches while not being supervised in their kennel.). Health certificates have to take place within 10 days of travel. With such tight deadlines, it’s often VERY challenging or impossible to reschedule if an appointment is missed.

Our vet partners are fantastic to us in offering discounted pricing as a rescue organization. Every time we miss an appointment with them, we took away a time slot that a regular client could have taken.

Did you pass? Are you ready to become a foster? Great! Please complete our online Foster Application.